Leaf age effects on photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and nitrogen content in a tropical dry forest

This study examines the effect of leaf age on photosynthesis, transpiration and nitrogen concentration in four deciduous (DC) and two evergreen (EG) species coexisting in a tropical dry forest of Venezuela. Leaf age was characterized on the basis of leaf chorophyll, nitrogen content, and construction and maintenance costs. The mean leaf area-based nitrogen concentration (N) in EG was about twice that in DC species. A leaf age effect was observed in both DC and EG species, with largest N concentration in mature leaves. Fractional leaf N allocation to chlorophyll was higher in the DC than in the EG species. Differences in the construction costs of leaf mass between the youngest and the oldest leaves averaged from 2.14 to 1.55 g glucose g⁻¹ dry weight. Although variation in area-based leaf maintenance and construction costs between DC and EG species existed, they were, nevertheless, positively correlated. Individual data sets, for each species, indicated that leaf N and maximum rate of photosynthesis (A_max) were linearly related. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) tended to be higher in mature leaves than in expanding and old leaves. Moreover, DC species always had higher NUE than EG species. Intercellular to ambient pressures of CO₂ (P_i/P_a) were related to WUE in a negative manner. Higher P_i/P_a values were observed in expanding and old leaves. Leaf age effect on photosynthesis was, therefore, due to greater decline of carbon fixation capacity by mesophyll tissue relative to the decline in stomatal conductance in youngest and oldest leaves.